If nothing else, Gnomeo and Juliet proves that the biggest fan of Elton John’s music is … Elton John. As an executive producer of this new computer-animated flip of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy, John sneaks in about a dozen of his old tunes in one form or another—not one of which has any bearing on the story or the characters. Tacky. (And that’s really saying something where Sir Elton is concerned.) There are a couple of laughs, and the film has an interesting voice cast, including James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine and Maggie Smith. Even the stunt casting of Ozzy Osbourne and Hulk Hogan works. But the animation isn’t anything special, and the total vanity of the film’s executive producer chokes out most of the remaining fun.
ByColin Boyd